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Friday, April 27, 2012

World Wide SketchCrawl 35. Fellow USkTX sketcher Chris F. and I met out at the the San Jacinto Monument for the reenactment of the Battle of San Jacinto. This was a great opportunity to capture a wide assortment of activities and the reenactors dress and gear was wonderfully varied. Quite a few people had questions about what we were doing. From the website www.sanjacinto-museum.org "The battle reenactment dramatizes the decisive battle where General Sam Houston led his Texian soldiers to victory over the Mexican Army eventually leading to almost one million square miles of Mexican territory becoming a part of the United States. The reenactors dramatically interpret the Runaway Scrape (Texians fleeing from the advancing forces of Santa Anna), the cannon duel and the final battle between the two forces."

Thursday, April 26, 2012

During the trip to my hometown to participate in the Rock 'n' Roll Madrid Marahton, I attended the 35th SketchCrawl with a group of Madrid Sketchers, to a park where it could see beautiful views of the Madrid skyline and its sierra, and spend a fantastic hours chatting and drawing.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Austin sketchers will also be celebrating World Wide SketchCrawl 35, as we meet-up at the SFC Austin Farmers Market, Downtown; 400 W. Guadalupe, Republic Square Park @ 9:00am. From there we'll meander and have lunch in the 2nd St. district then quite possibly crawl over to the South First Street bridge for some afternoon sketching and a bird's eye view (and sounds!) of the Austin Reggae Festival @ Auditorium Shores. We'll regroup later and round-out the day with an evening @ Threadgill's, an iconic Austin food/music venue, from 7:00pm - till ? We'll be relaxing, sketching the scene, and enjoying while listening to Seth Walker (w. Carsie Blanton) @ 9:00 pm croon the night away.

So, if you're in Austin please join us for all or any part of this sketch adventure. Hope to see you there!

Tomorrow is the re-enactment of The Battle of San Jacinto.There will be a battle re-enactment at 3p.m.Starting at 10 a.m. there will be Mexican and Texan camps set up for visiting.This would be a pretty cool opportunity and something completely Texas-y.
I now change my vote from Discovery Green to San Jacinto Battle. What do you think?The website: http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/
We'll post the final location by tomorrow morning at 7:30.

World Wide Sketch Crawl is this Saturday. Houston sketchers will be meeting at Discovery Green in downtown Houston. Meet at 9 a.m. at location marked with #4 on the map. (at the parking garage, with your back to the convention center, go to the garden area to the right of the garage entrance) We'll meet there again at 11 for anyone coming late. There will be lots of activity around, lovely gardens, and the skyline. Houston, I know you are out there. Please come join us, all skill levels and all ages welcome. See you there!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

I am captivated by the old Ideson Building as well. I knew they were doing a complete renovation and I hadn't seen the finished work. I have fond memories of the building, particularly the children's room. The results of the renovation are just spectacular and the Norma Meldrum Children's Room is restored to its former glory. They have relit the entire building so you can better appreciate the original architectural details....and they just GLOW. The antique books in this collection are a trip through time.Inspired by Tómas I sat and drew the alcove. I think at one time this alcove housed the picture books.

Afther reading the entry that Nadia made on his blog Dear Polia , I had that going for a walk around the building, and how to not make some sketch. Is beautiful both inside and outside, but the latter i leave it for another occasion. Is A "must do" ,

Thursday, April 12, 2012

I've had my eye on this little house nearby for a long time, but it's always been too hot to stop and sketch. Today was perfect. I had to edit for space and sanity. This yard contains an unbelievable amount of "yard art" or "garden junk". I couldn't fit it all in. She loves cows and chickens so there's lots of that. And also lots of "Texana". This lady obviously enjoys her garden as well. The flowers are all real and lovely. I wasn't there long before her live-in companion came out to check me out. Turns out there's a story here. Mrs. Kujawa is over 80 and in a struggle with relatives over the property. Her garden is her therapy. She invited me to come back and check out the back yard, which she says is "even better". Whoo boy!

This past weekend we took a short road trip to Liberty, Texas. We went camping at our friend's family ranch. If you are not from Texas you probably picture dusty, mountainy, desert with steers. This part of Texas is lush and green. Rolling pastures with big oak and other hardwood trees. Their ranch house is a single story house spread out with a library, game room, garage for bikes and cars and the dogs kennel. Even a small pool in the back. We camped across the field near the barn and work sheds. We arrived late in the day on Thursday, set up camp and headed into town for Tex-Mex and a margarita. Delisioso!

The next day we headed over to the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center. On the campus of the library are a full size replica of the Texas Governors Mansion, the church (in the center of my sketch), a house and another building. We were lucky that the librarian took us around and opened up the buildings for us even though it was a holiday. It gave me a brief chance to sketch. It is good to have friends with connections. (top image is a composite of 3 of my sketchbook pages)

The rest of the weekend we grilled steaks, the guys set up a shooting range to target shoot, and the teen boys had a huge amount of fun driving the "gator" on the gravel ranch roads. Sort of a golf cart for farms, perfect for 13 year olds. The weather was perfect and so was the company.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Spectacular Park just a short 45 min.drive from downtown Houston. This is a wonderful place to visit. Nature lovers, birders, hikers, campers and other outdoor enthusiasts, and of course sketchers will delight in an obervation tower on 40-Acre Lake trail and almost 35 miles of hiking/biking and foot trails, including an eight-mile equestrian trail system. More than 120 picnic sites with grills, water ans rest rooms.

Wildlife is diverse and abundant, more than 25 different species of mammals, Aprox 21 species of reptiles, but all them are overshadowed in general interest by the American alligator ( over 300 adults alligators make their homes in the park) Birds of 290 species have been sighted in and around the park.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Hello! I'm Brad Shaevel, a web application developer and urban sketcher, and I'm very excited to be your USk Texas correspondent from Austin, Texas! This intro post comes on the heels of one of my favorite festival weekends in Austin ... SXSW (South by Southwest) music festival! This year's event was no exception, bringing in a world of talented musicians and fans flooding into Austin for a slew of weekend-long block parties and musical showcases across the city. I spent the weekend in one of my favorite SXSW spots listening to great line-ups of music, people watch-sketching, and just soaking up the festivities in the heart of Austin's SoCo (South Congress) area.

My best-est sketching buddy, a rat-chi named Wiijet (pronounced "widget"), and I parked in front of Austin musical icon, the Continental Club, directly across the street from the picturesque Hotel San Jose for a couple of days. Here we enjoyed front row
sketching seats to the 2012 South by San Jose (SXSJ) block party.

The
sketch below is of the Hotel San Jose and Jo's Coffee shop SXSJ stage, and was completed on-the-spot over two days with final watercolor touches added back in the studio.

So if you're ever in Austin, be sure to look me up and lets sketch, I know some great spots! Thanks so much again for the opportunity to be a part of sharing the joy's of urban sketching, and the great city of Austin, one sketch at a time, through USk Texas!

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On the header:

ABOUT

Urban Sketchers is a network of artists around the world who draw the cities where they live and travel to. Our mission is to "Show the World, One Drawing at a Time." Visit our main blog at urban sketchers dot org for more information.
Sketchers in Texas share their drawings on this blog.

By making a donation to our nonprofit you'll be helping urban sketchers continue to show the world, one drawing at a time.

Our Manifesto

1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.
2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.
3. Our drawings are a record of time and place.
4. We are truthful to the scenes we witness.
5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.
6. We support each other and draw together.
7. We share our drawings online.
8. We show the world, one drawing at a time.

The Urban Sketchers logo was created by Italian graphic designer Franco Lancio.